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Quick answer: A reverse image search hands an engine a picture and asks where else the same or a similar image appears online. Give this page a JPG, PNG or image URL and it builds links for Google Lens, Bing and Yandex, which run the search.
We hold no image index and do no matching ourselves. This reverse image search tool is a switchboard, and each engine searches its own index. Guests can search by picture with no account.
How to Do a Free Reverse Image Search: Upload a Picture or Paste an Image URL
The form takes one picture, one image URL or one keyword.
Choose one input. Drag and drop a JPG or PNG onto "Drop Image File Here", or press "Select a File". For an image search by URL, paste the web address of the picture file itself into "Search by URL". The "Search by keyword" box takes up to 200 characters, but a keyword search is an ordinary image search, not a reverse one.
Press Search Similar Images. Only one input is used. An uploaded file beats a keyword, and a keyword beats an address; the others are dropped, so clear a stray keyword first.
Press Show Matches. Each of the three cards opens its engine in a new tab.
Compare the tabs. Each engine keeps its own index. Open a few results in each tab, and look for the oldest dated copy and any attribution.
Image address, not page address: Paste the direct image link, never the page that shows the picture. A page address can land you on a Bing Images start page, and Yandex can answer "No matching results." On desktop, right-click the picture and choose Copy image address (wording varies).
What Google Lens, Bing and Yandex Do With Your Picture
Each button is a link that carries your picture's URL to a different engine.
Engine
The button opens
What we saw
Google
Google Lens
When we pressed it, Google Lens downloaded the picture from our link. We have not seen what Lens lists.
Bing
Bing Visual Search
In most of our desktop tests, a results page with Visual Matches and Pages with this image.
Yandex
Yandex Images
A results page with Similar images and Sites, on desktop and in an emulated phone layout. Some titles came back in Russian.
The engines decide what counts as an exact match or near duplicate, so results differ and can change.
What Happens to the Picture You Upload
A crawler can only fetch what it can reach by URL, so we save your upload under a random name, 24 characters long, and give each engine a public link. Anyone with that link can open the picture until the cleanup deletes it, about two hours later.
The link carries no-store and noindex headers, which ask caches and search engines not to keep the picture. That is a request, not a lock. In our runs Google Lens, Bing and Yandex each downloaded the picture from that link, and each engine's copy follows its own policy.
We store the file as sent, so its EXIF metadata, including any GPS location saved inside, reaches the engines; our test JPEG came back byte-identical. Yandex's results URL carries the picture link, so do not share it while the file is up.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) is a list of common questions and answers provided to quickly address common concerns or inquiries.
How do I do a reverse image search for free?
Drop a JPG or PNG onto the tool above, or paste an image URL, then press Search Similar Images. Press Show Matches under any card. In most of our desktop tests, Bing and Yandex opened a results page. It needs no account.
Which search engine should I open first?
It barely matters, because no engine wins every time and each one searches its own index. Run all three and compare the dates on what they list. Treat an empty result from one engine as inconclusive. Results can change between searches.
What happens to the picture I upload, and can anyone else see it?
Anyone with the link can open the picture. The engines must download it, so it sits at a random address for about two hours. The file keeps any location data saved inside a photo, and each engine follows its own policy. For a sensitive photo, use the engine's own upload page.
How do I search by image URL instead of uploading?
Paste the image URL into Search by URL. It must be the image file itself, not the page that shows it, so right-click the picture and copy its address. Spaces and query strings in the address are encoded for you.
Why does a reverse image search show no results?
The engine may not have indexed the picture, the copy may be a cropped version or a heavily edited version, or the address pointed at a page rather than the image. Try the other engines or a larger copy. Finding nothing says little about whether the picture is unique.
Which file types and sizes can I use?
JPG, JPEG and PNG files only, up to 5 MB, or 15 MB with a free account. The file type check reads the content, so a WebP or GIF renamed to .jpg is still refused. Use the JPG Converter to convert a WebP or GIF, or the Image Compressor to compress image files.
Can a reverse image search tell me who made a picture or whether it is fake?
No. A search lists pages with a matching or similar picture, and even the oldest dated one is only a lead to the source. It cannot show edits, fakery or AI generation, and there is no face search or person lookup.
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